The Navi Olympics
by Aria6
Summary: All sorts of interesting stuff! Set after the N-1 Grand Prix, this is the next step... a Navi Olympics, with two champions from each country! Guess who goes for Japan. ^^ Also, something called Infini Net, and Enzan gets obsessed with a puzzle... check it
1. Default Chapter

Things have beginning points.

Well, not really, but we like to think they do. We like to be able to point at a spot, and say, it began here. Assigning some arbitrary point to the cascade of events, although it is in some measure true. There are starting points…..

_Something_ started when a combat Navi was reprogrammed to understand every aspect of human behaviour, but the jury is still out on what.

Something else started when a virus infected Navi was discarded in the trash, to be found by a child who couldn't afford one….. something most people would call wonderful. Or perhaps not. You can never tell with some people.

But the real beginning could have been placed a long time ago, in a rich family with twins…

hr

_ISeventeen years ago….._

_"Enzie!"  
  
"Kenzie! Catch!"  
  
"Got it! …..Play hide-and-seek, Enzie?"  
  
"Sure! You hide!"  
  
"Okay!"  
  
"4-5-6….. 7-8-9….. 10! Ready or not, here I come!"  
  
"….."_

_"Hey, where are you?"_

_"Kenzie?"  
  
"Kenzie! I'm not going to search forever!"  
  
"…..Kenzie?"_

_"….."_

_"Mamma! Pappa!"_/I

hr

Five years ago…..  
  
"KEN!"  
  
The young man winced at the ear-shattering yell. The woman who had raised him wanted him again.  
  
_I will not call her my mother. She's not. She's made that clear. Bastard brat, no mother, no father…_ Grumbling to himself, he threw down the pencil he's been writing with. There'd probably be no more schoolwork done today.  There usually wasn't, when she called.  
  
"You bellowed?" He said, bored, as he leaned against the entrance to the living room. It was a pigsty, as usual. The woman, (bitch, he thought, but very privately….. he liked having teeth) glared at him. Her name was Jacqueline. Somehow, that name had always put him in mind of pretty, delicate girls, with long blond hair. It was a flowery name.

There was nothing flowery about what he was looking at. Hard muscles over a long, lean frame, and a face that would have done credit to a mule. A particularly bad tempered mule. Still, the physical characteristics didn't matter, really….. what mattered was that she was damn unpleasant to live with. Even abusive. Dark brown, angry eyes gazed at him as if looking for something to punish.

However, he was living up to her lax standards of dress and deportment. His blue jeans weren't that clean, but they weren't ripped either, and his shirt was tight on his slender, but muscular chest. A blue bandanna, holding it out of pure blue eyes, confined his shoulder length black hair. Facially, he seemed to be Japanese, although his skin was very pale….. perhaps a half-breed, to put it crudely. And that was the only way Jacqueline ever put anything.

But he'd been fast enough for her, so she wasn't TOO angry. "Harvy needs some parts. Get down to the dump and find them." She growled, handing him a list. He bit off a groan. "And don't come back until you do!" Ken bit his lip, but turned around stiffly, leaving.

His schoolwork meant nothing to her, but it was everything to him. His one escape from this rotten side of town, the grinding poverty he'd endured and seen all his life. And he was good at it. His marks were all A's, and he had a knack for programming, plus, he was creative. Fortunately, he'd avoided getting into trouble so far, although that was more luck than design. His leather jacket had been stolen, and his net crimes didn't even bear thinking about.

Shaking his head, Ken snarled to himself. He didn't want to go to the dump, but he had to. There was no choice at all.

hr  
  
Sorting through garbage was never fun. Although at least this garbage didn't stink too badly, compared to the rest of it. It was all technical things, parts, metal garbage, nothing organic.

"Crap crap crap….." Ken growled angrily, throwing aside parts. He'd found only a little bit of what he needed. Some of the others' he had found, but they were too badly corroded to be of use. Jacqueline and Harvy would kick his ass if he brought home useless crap.

"…..?" He lifted something out of the morass, noticing the familiar shape, the handle that fit easily into his hand. "A Pet? What the hell?" Pets weren't that common, not yet, certainly not enough that they were the usual sort of thing found in a dump. "Holy… AWESOME!" Ken's eyes lit up as he examined it. The Pet wasn't working, but seemed to be in perfect condition. Maybe a software glitch, a virus, but either way….. "I bet I can fix this!" He had to restrain the urge to run right home to work on it… work still had priority. Carefully stowing away the Pet in his jacket, he started rooting through the junk again.

He'd get to it later…

hr  
  
Three years ago…

"I am getting SICK of your whining about my boyfriends! Sick of it!" The young girl pushed her hair back out of her eyes. Her skin was the deepest black of Africa, and her eyes were a warm brown, meant to smile and smolder. Right now, they were smoldering with anger. "Get it out of your system already!"  
  
"But what do you SEE in that louse?" Her Navi complained. The Navi was just as beautiful as her operator, in a completely different way… skin of palest white, armored in silver, with a few brilliant red hair spikes poking out from under her helmet. She was buxom where her operator was small and lithe. "He's a jerk! A dweeb! I don't understand this physical attraction thing!"  
  
"….." Her operator stared at her, stunned, for a moment. "No, you don't. That's the whole problem, isn't it? You don't understand!" She suddenly smiled. "But that's fixable."  
  
"Eh?" Her Navi blinked, tilting her head to one side with a frown. "What do you mean, Irene?"  
  
"I mean it's about time I gave you a small attitude adjustment!" She announced, plugging her Pet into the computer to start reprogramming. Her Navi looked worried.  
  
"Is this going to hurt?"  
  
"Oh, probably, but you'll be better for it." She said gleefully as she started to type.

"Oh, crap….."


	2. The Competition Begins!

The present day.

"?!?" The blue Navi frowned at the e-mail he'd just received. The address was unfamiliar, but it looked governmental... still, that didn't necessarily mean anything. Government addresses had sent out viruses before. He quickly scanned it, though, and couldn't find anything wrong with it. And the header...

Rockman suddenly blinked. "Netto-kun! You have an e-mail message, and I think it's important."  
  
"Hm?" Netto said indistinctly... he was sitting inside the cafeteria, eating reheated glop that had been billed as meatloaf. Most of the students were just picking at it, or outright turning up their noses at it. He hadn't noticed. "Important?" Netto swallowed his food, pulling out his Pet and looking at Rockman. "What does it say?"  
  
"Um..." Rockman quickly scanned the text of the message. "Netto-kun, it's a message from the directors of the N-1 Grand Prix... we've been selected to represent Japan in a competition overseas!"  
  
"Say what? Display the e-mail!" Netto exclaimed, and Rockman quickly opened it for him. "...Oh, wow!"

It was good news, very good. Netto and Rockman had both heard about the possibility of a Navi Olympics... the general concept was that there would be two challengers from each country, to meet the cream of the crop from all the other places. For months, it had seemed more hypothetical than reality.

But the last week, things had gotten serious. Details had been hammered out. Netto had still thought it wasn't going to happen, but Rockman had held out that it looked like it would. It seemed he had been right, because now they had a message inviting them to come to New Orleans, all expenses paid, for him and a group.

"...New Orleans? Where's New Orleans?" The name sounded strange to him, but then, he'd never learned more than a small bit of English. Rockman frowned.

"I don't know... I don't know much about North America. Just a moment... It's in Lousiana, in the Southern United States. Hmm. I wonder why they picked that location?"

"You mean, the United States?" Netto tilted his head to one side. "That's pretty obvious. I mean, it can't be Japan..."  
  
"...Without the Mega Float." Rockman finished the sentance with a sigh. "I know. It's too bad, really. You'll miss so much school."  
  
"Oh, Rockman, you would worry about that!" Netto laughed, then turned serious again. "Without the Mega Float, though, Japan doesn't have a big place to do Netbattles for an audience. I guess New Orleans does."

"Yes, they must. Hmm, I have a translation program, and I can translate things for you... but you need to learn some English, Netto-kun." Rockman said with a frown, and Netto laughed again.

"No problem! How hard can it be?" Rockman lifted an eyebrow, looking skeptical. From what he had heard, English was the most illogical, difficult language to learn possible... and Netto wasn't known for diligence. He decided not to say anything, though. "Let's go tell Meiru and Dekao! And Tohru and Yaito! This is going to be great!" Rockman smiled as Netto picked him up and rushed over to Meiru.

"Sure, Netto-kun." He would be happy to have Roll, Gutsman, Iceman and Glyde there, rooting him on... although, he wondered what kinds of Navi's he would meet, in a worldwide tournament.

_Very interesting._

hr

Elsewhere...  
  
"So. A worldwide tournament."  
  
"Yes, Enzan-sama." Blues waited patiently, watching his operator. Enzan had kicked his feet up on a table, and was gazing away thoughtfully.

"In New Orleans... that's the headquarters of Gubralter Enterprises, isn't it?" He kept track of the competition, especially competition as able as Gubralter. He owned a massive software company. "And Infini Net..."  
  
"Yes, Enzan-sama. They have an impressive stadium for Netbattling." Blues hadn't known about that until they'd received the invitation, but he'd quickly entered the net and found it. He knew precisely what Enzan would want to know.

"Interesting." He said quietly, then looked down at Blues. "Have you found the information on the various champions?"  
  
"Some of it, Enzan-sama. Some of the countries do not have standardized Netbattling tournaments, so there is no data." He cautioned. Enzan dismissed that with a shake of his head.

"Then their champions won't be worth mentioning. Continue."  
  
"Hikari Netto will be the second champion for Japan. In the United States, the lead champion will be Xoom, and his Navi, Plague. The secondary champion will be Irene Gubralter, and her Navi, Steel Magnolia. The champion for Sweden-"  
  
"Wait. What is Xoom's real name?" Enzan asked with a slight frown. It was a curious omission.

"I was not able to find that information, Enzan-sama." Blues replied. "He doesn't seem to use his real name, and the tournaments do not insist on it."  
  
"Hmm. Continue." Enzan frowned again, then smiled. There would be some powerful talent at this tournament.

It might even be a challenge.

hr

"Woo hoo!" A scarlet Navi bounced from block to block, grinning. It was more of feat than it seemed, since the artificial gravity was fluctuating, and at several points, he was standing on the "ceiling" or pointed in other, odd directions. It didn't faze him a bit, but then, he was used to it.

He deleted viruses, dodged spikes and spires of flame with almost contemptuous ease.

"Xoom, you have an e-mail!" He called as several Navi's appeared to confront him. Only generic ones, but this was a homemade combat simulation.

"Oh? Read it." Ken yawned, eating a piece of pizza. He was a teenager now, almost an adult, and had acquired his own apartment.

It was a rats' nest. Garbage was strewn around freely, mostly in the form of pizza boxes and various wrappers. For the rest, diskettes were everywhere, CD's, and a few miscellaneous tools. Books and papers were also everywhere, adding their own piece to the overall impression of messiness. The only thing clean was the dishes, which had been neatly stacked away.

Xoom didn't care. As long as nothing was moldering, things were find. He'd taken the name Xoom on the internet, and decided to use it in real life as well. It was a good name...

"We've been invited to the tournament!" Plague said with a grin as he made the Navi's logout. He'd been expecting this, and so had Xoom. As natives of New Orleans, they knew quite well that things were starting to heat up with the tournament plans. "Isn't that grand? We'll get to show off our skills to the world!" Excited, he blasted a few more viruses and slammed a fist into one that had thought to sneak up behind. Xoom laughed.

"Yes, isn't it?" He had ideas, though, about what he could show off… things more important than Netbattling skills. "Do you have the hang of carrying and activating that program?" Plague looked slightly martyred at the mention of that.

"Yes, yes, please don't make me do it again." He pleaded, and Xoom laughed, patting his Pet.  
  
"Not until we need to surprise someone. Let's start reviewing the other contestants."


	3. Popping the Bubble

_Popping the Bubble_

"Isn't this great Rockman? Louisiana!" Netto looked around happily, every inch the tourist. However, the airport was much like airports everywhere… except there was a fair amount of odd kitsch at some of the vendors. Definitely souvenir material. 

"It's definitely new… but shouldn't you be speaking English, Netto?" Rockman admonished him gently, smiling, and Netto blinked.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot… where we go?" He said in heavily accented, not very understandable English. Meiru giggled slightly.  
  
"We're going to our hotel room!" Yaito proclaimed, taking the lead easily. "And then we're going down to Infini Net!" Tohru suddenly frowned, as Dekao, Meiru and Netto looked rather puzzled.

"Infini Net? But… don't you have to have a membership for that?" He said doubtfully. He was fairly certain that was the case. But Yaito just laughed.

"Oh, it will be easy to get in Tohru! Just wait and see!" She smiled, light gleaming off her forehead for a moment.

"Yeah, Tohru, Yaito can do anything!" Dekao said with a grin... but he meant it. After she'd gotten Maxim Warrior for them, he, Netto and Meiru were willing to believe almost any claim. Tohru kept his peace, but frowned...

_That was in Japan, this is America. Will they really care about what the daughter of a Japanese businessman wants? And isn't Infini Net owned by Gubralter Enterprises? I think they're a direct competitor of Gabcom, too... Oh, Yaito, I think this might not work._

He had no idea how right he would be proved...

hr

"Infini Net…" Enzan muttered as he gazed up at the sign. The name was written in scarlet, flowing letters on a black background. It was something he'd been looking forward too, on this trip to New Orleans.

Infini Net's reputation had reached even Japan. It was a tremendous creation, the brainchild of a scientist/businessman, Alexander Gubraltar. Some other scientists had snidely remarked that he was far more of a businessman than a scientist, but that couldn't eliminate the facts of his runaway success.

Infini Net was a place children and adults could gather to Netbattle. That, in itself, wasn't unusual… Japan had similar courts. What made Infini Net unique was the nation wide system… including Canada and Mexico… that allowed remote Netbattles. A Netbattler in Toronto could duel with a Netbattler in Ohio, without leaving their city, feeding their Navis chips. Normally, the Netbattler had to be jacked into the place associated with the net their Navi was fighting in to feed them chips.

Infini Net did away with that necessity by having a communal net. How that had been managed was a closely guarded secret that no one had ever been able to ferret out, but it was a large part of Infini Net's success.

Still, there was far more than just Netbattling. Infini Net hosted message boards, on all kinds of topics, from arts and crafts to Netbattling tips. All a member had to do was petition for a board, with a certain number of other members, and it would be opened. And kept open, as long as their was enough traffic. There was even a Virus board, where professionals and hackers could exchange security tips… and tips on how to infiltrate and make new viruses. The most intelligent companies kept a close watch on the Virus board, to eliminate their own weaknesses. The hackers and Netcriminals didn't care… for every company that plugged the holes, hundreds wouldn't.

The thing Enzan was looking forward to the most, though, was the Labyrinth. It was a subsection of Infini Net, and even more dangerous than Netbattling. A tremendous maze, studded with traps and infested with viruses, it was meant to be a deadly challenge. Navis who entered it could win past the challenges, and find 'prizes'… little things on the basic levels, larger prizes further in. No one had ever reach the highest levels, where it was rumored a great combat upgrade lay. Enzan unhooked Blues, looking at him.  
  
"Are you ready for this, Blues?" Enzan asked, struck by his own concern. Since the time Rockman had been deleted, he'd been more worried about Blues… and there was a real chance of deletion in the Labyrinth. Several Navis had been deleted there before, although none of Blues caliber. But none of those had penetrated as deeply as he meant to.  
  
"Yes, Enzan-sama." Blues was unperturbed by the possible risk. "It will be good practice for the tournament." Enzan nodded thoughtfully. That was certainly true.

"This will be more challenging the the N-1 Grand Prix." He commented, glancing around casually. Then he suddenly smiled. That large forehead and gold braids were unmistakable. He leaned against the wall to watch. Netto, Meiru and Dekao were all trailing behind her, looking a bit confused.

If Yaito had an account, well and good… but if she thought she was going to get in without one, she was in for a rude surprise. They wouldn't give a damn who she was, or how much money she had, or her father's position. Infini Net made it a strict policy to never allow anything to sway their admission policies. Not for Gabcom, nor for Ijuuin's enterprises.

Enzan had known that. When he'd found out about the location of the tournament, he'd arranged for the company office in Washington to get him a membership. They'd mailed him the papers, which he'd signed and mailed back. When he arrived in Seattle, his membership card had arrived the same night, brought by courier.

If he'd come in cold, with no preparations, it would have taken a week to get a membership. Maybe more. The town was glutted with foreign Netbattlers, most of whom hadn't bothered to even call ahead. They'd arrived, found out about Infini Net, and decided to come. They were clogging all the intakes, and Yaito and her little group would be just another speck of flotsam in the flood.  
  
Enzan smiled, deciding to watch. Her reaction might be entertaining…

hr  
  
"What do you MEAN we can't go in???" Yaito's braids seem to bristle, as she confronted the woman manning the registration desk at Infini Net. The woman… a young girl, really… favored her with a bored look.

"Miss, you have to fill out the registration forms, submit them, then wait for confirmation." She repeated, blank faced. Her golden hair was pulled into a ponytail, and her red and black uniform was impeccable, matching the décor.

The furnishings of Infini Net were far more impressive than the outside. Black wood, black steel, with scarlet accents were everywhere. Bright red cushions filled all the seats, and the lighting was subdued… probably because bright lights detracted from Netbattling. And aquariums were set in the walls… Netto was marveling over those, identifying fish with Dekao.

But they wouldn't be able to do much more without a membership.

"How long will that take?" Tohru stepped into the conversation, trying to keep Yaito calm. Unfortunately, the reply didn't help with that.  
  
"Approximately two weeks. We're backlogged right now." She returned to her work, tapping her keys and ignoring them.

"WHAT??" Yaito's shriek made everyone wince. "The tournament will be over by then! We'll be back in Japan! This is the worst service I've EVER been given!"  
  
"If I had a dollar for how many people have complained today, I would be rich." The girl retorted coolly. "Policies are policies. I don't-" She suddenly smiled, a warm expression that lit up her face. "Irene! How can I help you?"  
  
"Oh, no help needed." Everyone turned to look, surprised, at the person the receptionist would treat in such a friendly manner. A tall, thin black girl flashed them a dazzling white smile. She was wearing jeans, and a brilliant yellow t-shirt speckled with some food stains. "Hello. Are you all having a problem?" Her accent was light, exotic… but not southern. There was something vaguely European about it…

"We're just trying to get in, but we can't get a membership." Meiru smiled at Irene. There was something very open and likeable about her. "I suppose we'll just have to do it some other time…"  
  
"Ha! Not necessarily." Irene grinned. "Members can take in groups. How would you like to come with me? Nadia, can you arrange that? Um… I am out from under probation, right?" The receptionist, Nadia, typed on her computer for a moment.

"It went through yesterday. Technically, it should be another week before you bring in groups… but I can bend that rule just a little." She smiled, pulling out enough cards for Netto, Dekao, Meiru, Tohru and Yaito. "Swipe your card, please." Irene pulled out a membership card, of the trademark black and red, swiping it into the reader. Nadia swiped each green card in turn. "There. This is only for today, you'll have to return these cards when you exit. Until then, though, you have full access to the facilities. Enjoy your stay at Infini Net."

"Thank you!" Yaito quickly grabbed a card, then smiled up at Irene. "And thank you." Irene shrugged, then laughed.

"It was no problem. Besides, Netto should have the chance to observe the competition in action!" Her grin became slightly… predatory. "And I want to see his moves." Netto blinked as Rockman translated that.

"You're in the competition? Really?" He exclaimed in Japanese. Irene nodded, grinning… she understood the language. "For what country?"  
  
"America, of course! I'm the runner up champion, Irene Gubralter, and this is my Navi, Steel Magnolia." She pulled a bright blue Pet from her belt, displaying it to them. It was a beautiful female Navi, clothed in form fitting steel armor, blond hair spiking from under her helmet. She gazed at them alertly with light blue eyes. "C'mon, let's get you all into Infini Net. I promise, it's an experience you won't forget." She smiled brightly, leading them deeper into the building… "I'll introduce you to Xoom and Plague. Now THEY are the ones to beat. Man, they totally kicked my ass the last time we Netbattled."  
  
"I'd like to try them on." Dekao grinned, looking down at Gutsman. "We could beat them, eh, Guts?"  
  
"Gutsu…" Guts rubbed his head, probably thinking about his losses to Rockman. "Maybe, Gutsu…"

"Well, you can always try!" Meiru smiled happily, gazing around. "This place looks like a lot of fun!" There were video game terminals everywhere, and the Netbattling setup was a huge thing, in the middle of the room. There were door leading off to smaller rooms, everywhere, as well. For smaller Netbattles, and all kinds of activities.

Truly a wonderful place…


	4. Justice and Mercy

_Justice and Mercy_

_000100111101010101011100110110001010101010101_

_01010101~I~0101010101010010101001101010010101_

_111100101010101000100101101011100100010110100_

_010101010100001011~am~01010101010110101010001_

_00010101011100100101010101011~Mercy~001010011_

"Rockman.EXE, transmission!"  
  
"Gutsman, transmission!"  
  
"Roll-chan, transmission!"

"Iceman, transmission!"  
  
"Glyde, transmission!"  
  
"Steel, go."  
  
"Irene! That's so LIMP! That's all I get?!?"  
  
"Oh, blech. Go on, shoo."  
  
"Maaan…."  
  
The Navis appeared into Infini Net's dreamscape in flashes of many colored lights. Blue for Rockman, yellow for Guts, pink for Roll, white for Iceman, gold for Glyde… and a particularly putrescent shade of purple for Steel Magnolia.

All the Navis turned around, gazing at the dreamscape… and it truly was a dream…

"I've never seen a network like this before." Roll breathed, and everyone agreed.

Around them was an endless expanse of blue, with drifting, fluffy bits of digital silver that mimicked clouds. Tiny, glistening multi-colored dots flew and dived through the clouds, beating large, iridescent wings. They were standing on a platform of flat grey stone, with beautiful, sculpted edges. A statue of a winged woman, with a sword in one hand, scales in the other, stood in the center of their platform. Rockman turned to look at it…  
  
"Oh… um…" He blushed a brilliant red, or the program equivalent. The statue was a nude, and his eyes were level with the nipples…

"Set it to juvenile mode and she'll be clothed." Steel advised with a grin. "This place is totally classical style, and Mercy goes for accuracy. Justice doesn't give a damn."  
  
"Oh…" Totally clueless, Rockman quickly reset the settings for himself, and sighed in relief, as the statue was clothed in flowing stone robes. Only then did he wonder about Justice and Mercy… but was quickly distracted as Steel walked toward the open end of the platform.

"Over here, c'mon, this is the exit." They blinked, but followed as Steel walked out onto a smaller stone slab. Once they were all on board, a window suddenly opened in the air in front of Guts.  
  
"Gutsu?" He stepped back… and was suddenly teetering at the edge of the platform. "Gutsu!" Rockman quickly grabbed his arm, dragging him back. "Thank you, de guts."  
  
"Sorry, this thing isn't really meant for large groups." It was a rather tight fit. "Although, if you fall off, you just get warped to a random area. It's called the Warp Zone, and pretty cool… sometimes I jump off just to see if I can go somewhere I haven't been. Once, I ended up in the dead zone… now that was something else!"

"Dead zone?" Iceman asked, gazing over the edge of the platform. Where the sky and sides were endless blue, down below, he could see a fragmentary haze of white and gold. It made his head hurt slightly to look at it closely, but it was enchanting, in a way.

"Yeah, that's Monolith's place. It's not geographically located, which is weird, but there are a lot of places like that." Steel frowned, thinking about it. "Good place to go if you're depressed."

"Um… I'm confused. Can you explain how this place works?" Rock asked, then stepped back, slightly alarmed, as Steel flashed him a vulpine grin.

"Sure, sweetcheeks." Rock blinked… no one had ever called him THAT before. "Okay, it goes like this. Pretty much every city has an Infini Net facility. Each of those cities forms up a section of the communal net the makes up Infini Net, and they each have their own Sysops. This place has Justice and Mercy. With me so far?"  
  
"Yes… but you said the Dead Zone isn't tied to a city?" Roll said, fascinated. This wasn't really unusual… nets were always affiliated to places… but she had never heard of unaffiliated places before. Technically, that should be impossible.

"Yeah. Word is, the unaffiliated places are tied to a super computer somewhere, but that's just a rumor… all we know is that the Dead Zone doesn't tie into a city, and it's run by Monolith. It's virus infested, too, so if you want to practice it's an okay place to be. Hmm…" Steel scratched her head, thinking. "There's three other independent Zone's I know of. The Party Zone, the Mediation Zone, and the Labyrinth. You guys heard of the Labyrinth yet?" At their headshakes, she grinned. "Oh man! I'll have to show you that, then. You'll love it, I promise."  
  
At that point, Glyde noticed something distracting. Blocking out Steel's words, he tried to make out the form that was coming closer… no, heading towards a black monolith, floating in the endless expanse. There were several of those that he could see…

It was a Navi. Glyde gripped one of the stone edgings, leaning over the platform to get a better look, as she paused in front of the monolith… he could see now it was etched with glowing green writing. It seemed to be some kind of bulletin board.

The Navi was strange, but beautiful… a form fitting, white jumpsuit covered a shapely figure. Silver piping ran up her side, embossing her white metal gloves and boots in floral patterns. There was a purple stone set on her chest, between her breasts, glowing with an inner fire. Pure white hair was pulled into multiple braids, trailing down her back and capped with brilliant purple beads. But the most striking feature was her beautiful, feathery angel wings. They flapped slowly, holding her in place as she reached out with one hand towards the bulletin board. Green fire piped from one finger, deleting a message… and then she began to fly away.

"Wait! Who is that?" Glyde suddenly said, urgently, and everyone turned to look at him, surprised.

"Who's what… OH! That's Mercy." There were more Navi's around than just them, now… more platforms were floating by, and many Navis here could fly… but Steel could guess whom Glyde meant. "She's the Sysop around here, along with Justice. Don't fart with him, he gets pissy when you do."  
  
"Yeah, you would know!" Within Infini Net, Irene's voice echoed oddly. "C'mon, go to the hub. We can get into practice from there, and I bet Plague and Xoom'll be there." Steel flushed slightly, but obeyed…

The hub didn't really need explaining. Ahead, there was a place where many platforms came to rest… a tremendous, digital landscape of stone, where Navi's chatted, checked bulletin boards and played. It was the center of the New Orleans Infini Net.

As they stepped off the platform, though, Glyde glanced back… but Mercy was gone.

_001010101010101011101011100101011101100010000101.0..1..0..1.._

_…?_

Digital thoughts were interrupted, pulled from their beautiful, organized revolutions as something… new, tugged on her awareness. Something new and interesting, that required her attention. Something in the Labyrinth.

It would be wise to see what…


	5. Mistaken Identity sucks

"What should we do, Glyde?" Yaito asked, glancing around with a small frown.

Netto and Dekao, along with Rockman and Gutsman, were having a tag team match with a couple of the local Netbattlers. They were winning, although the locals had come up with some creative strategies. Tohru had discovered a flight simulator, and was having fun with it, blowing jets out of the digital skies. Meiru was still surfing the bulletin boards, along with Roll.

But Yaito wasn't certain what she wanted to do. Most of the bulletin board messages were inane, useless things, and she didn't have the patience right now to sort through them. The games and Netbattling were also out… Glyde wasn't really a combat Navi, and she just didn't feel like gaming. And for good reason… Yaito rubbed her forehead, wincing at the foul headache she'd developed.

"Why does my head hurt so much?" She muttered, more or less to herself. But Glyde answered anyway.

"I don't know, Yaito-sama, but it may be the change in heat and humidity." Yaito nodded with a sigh. New Orleans was hotter and muggier than she was used to, although Infini Net had perfect climate control. "Hmm… perhaps we could go talk to Enzan?"  
  
"Enzan?" Yaito blinked… she hadn't noticed him come in. "That…" She fumbled for the English word for a moment. She spoke English very well, but language lessons often didn't include rude slang. "Jerk? Where is he?" She hadn't seen him come in. Glyde smiled… she always insulted Enzan, but he had an idea her feelings were a bit different.

"Right over there, Yaito-sama." Glyde pointed, and Yaito turned to see the familiar cap of white and black hair. Yaito sniffed, then walked over, halting behind him. Enzan was turned away from her, playing some kind of game.

"Enzan!" Yaito put her hands on her hips, almost glaring at the back of his head. "What are you doing here, Enzan?" She was speaking Japanese… but there was no response.

Yaito waited for a few seconds, before her temper started to smolder. "Baka Enzan! Are you ignoring me???" There was still no response, other than the beeps and chirps of the game he was using. "Enzan!" People were starting to turn to look at her…

Finally, fed up with the lack of response, Yaito stepped forward and grabbed his arm, yanking him back to look at her…  
  
"Excuse me?" Enzan said, staring at her, surprised and confused… but he spoke in flawless English. Yaito stared up at him, slowly reddening.

The face was identical. So were the bright blue eyes, the white and black hair… but…

"Wh-when did you get your ears pierced?" There were gold studs on this boys' earlobes, and three wire hoops leading up each ear. The look he gave her was one of blank incomprehension.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" He said again, politely. Yaito blushed even more, and switched to English.

"I-I… I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else." The resemblance was simply amazing… even now, she could see no difference, besides the earrings and his attire. This boy was dressed in blue jeans, a bright red t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. And his attitude… he flashed her an open, friendly grin.

"No problem ma'am, you just startled me." He said with a small laugh. "I've never had anyone mistake me for anyone else before." He shrugged slightly, and offered her his hand. "I'm Xoom."  
  
_Xoom?!?_ Yaito's eyes widened as she recognized the name, and hesitantly took his hand. "You're the American champion?"  
  
"Oh yeah." He smiled, then glanced back at his game. "If you'll excuse me, though, I'm trying to break a record."  
  
"Uh… of course! I'm sorry!" Yaito blushed again. Her interruption had surely ruined his game… he'd have to start over from the beginning. She quickly backed away, slowly calming as everyone went back to their own activities.

"I'm so sorry Yaito-sama." Glyde was almost wringing his hands with anxiety, mortified at the embarrassment he had caused her. He usually had a very fine eye with detail… "I should have noticed his clothes…"  
  
"Even Enzan changes his clothes, Glyde." Yaito managed, still sneaking peeks at Xoom, who had turned away to keep playing his game. "You couldn't have known." The reassurance soothed her Navi, and it was very true.

She still couldn't believe the resemblance…

hr  
  
Elsewhere…  
  
"Level five, complete." Enzan murmured to himself. He was sitting, alone, in a well lit, private booth in Infini-Net. The building was huge, encompassing almost an entire block, and there were places for those who wished absolute privacy. Unlike most of Infini Net, this room was painted in a warm off-white, with beautiful wooden tables, and beige upholstery. Some people found the intense colors of the main Netbattling areas off-putting. This was a restful place.

And most of all, Enzan wished to concentrate. So far, things were easy, but he was certain it wouldn't continue that way.

"Inventory?" He queried Blues.

"Two recovery chips, 100 american dollars, and a flame sword chip." All the chips were duplicates of things Enzan already had. So far, their efforts had not been particularly fruitful. Enzan frowned, but slotted in a blank chip. There was always a reward at the end of a level. There were also numerous awards to be found in side areas, but he hadn't bothered, so far. Right now, the Labyrinth was easy.

Right now. It had twenty-five levels that he knew of, and there were stories, hints that the Labyrinth ran farther than that. If it was truly tied to a Cray supercomputer, it might go on forever. It definitely became more difficult the farther one went.  
  
The chip shone for a moment, then a picture formed. Enzan took it out, and blinked.

"A fan." Enzan smiled, adding that to his collection. It was a new chip, and could be very useful. "Continue, Blues."  
  
There were many more levels ready to penetrate, more prizes to win.

hr

_00101011101001010101010010110110111111001010100100101010_

Ice blue eyes watched the red Navi, as he ventured deeper into the Labyrinth.  
  
_001-he's good-11001010101010-good enough?-010101010100010101_

_0101010111-maybe-0001010101010001001010010111010101010101_

Mercy nodded slowly to herself, and began to rearrange the Labyrinth.

She would test his metal herself.


	6. A brief intermission in the play of life

Netto looked around at the New Orleans Netbattling stadium.

"Wow, impressive, isn't it Rockman?" He smiled as he looked around. It was easily as large as the Mega-float, although not as exotic in appearance. There were big screens on the outside, so people could see the matches going on inside… a very interesting advertisement for Netbattling.

Netto watched, entranced. Right now, the screens were showing the first stage of the Navi Olympics… each Navi was running through an obstacle course, filled with virii and other obstacles. Any Navi that couldn't get through with at least half his or her hitpoints was being eliminated. That wasn't many… but it was some. As Netto watched, a female Navi was forced to logout by a combined virus attack.

"Netto, look, there's Steel Magnolia!" Rockman pointed out the screen that showed their new friend. Steel appeared to be having a wonderful time, dancing through the obstacle course.  
  
"This won't be hard." Netto said confidently. "Let's go show them what we can do, Rockman!"  
  
"Right!" Just as they went inside, one of the screens changed its scene. It began showing a handsome, black and red Navi, who move with blinding speed and struck with pitiless strength. It might have been a warning for the future, if they had seen it.  
  
But they didn't, and life went on.  
  
hr  
  
"You're certain this simulation is accurate?" Enzan glared at the screen. He'd already gone through his qualifying round at the stadium, and would go back tomorrow for his first individual match. So, for the rest of the day, he was at Infini Net, sometimes in the Labyrinth, sometimes practicing.  
  
Right now, he was practicing. And it wasn't going well.  
  
"Yes, Enzan-sama." Blues replied quietly, but with a hint of tension. "He always practices here, so there were many records."

At the N-1 Grand Prix, they had practiced against a simulation of Rockman, before the final round. They might still have to face Rockman in this competition, but Enzan and Blues had defeated him before. So they were using simulations of the other competitors.  
  
Steel Magnolia's simulation had been challenging, but no more than Rockmans. His failure rating with her was about three percent, which might have irritated him more under other circumstances. With the other Navis that he had managed simulations for, his failure ratings had been under 1 percent. Mostly zero.  
  
Except for one.  
  
"We can't get it over fifty percent!" Enzan rubbed his head, feeling sick and annoyed. "He knows three program advances?"  
  
"Yes." Blues confirmed, stretching one arm out. The simulation had jerked it painfully in the last round. "That we know of." There might be more. Enzan frowned, looking down, as he had a thought.  
  
"Replay the two new program advances, slowly." One was Beta Sword, which he already knew. The other two…  
  
Enzan's eyes narrowed as he watched Plague, Xoom's Navi, summon up a mini-bomb. Then… another bomb, but a different color. Slowed down, he could recognize it as a l'il bomb. Then the last bomb that fused the three together, into a large orb…  
  
"I think that was a big bomb." It was logical. "Hmm." He had a few mini-bombs, but he'd always preferred swords, and hadn't bothered to collect more bombs. But the explosion Plague had created was impressive. "The other one?"

Enzan tilted his head to one side as he watched this program advance. A light aura of red surrounded Plague. Then purple. Then… a pure, brilliant white that made him put a hand up to shield his eyes. He didn't know what this program advance was, but it had protected Plague from a direct hit with a Beta Sword.  
  
"It's called Pure Aura." Blues supplied the information. "But no one knows what chips are used for it." The colors really gave no clue. Enzan had seen Dream Aura, but nothing that created a red aura or a purple aura around a Navi.

Enzan finally shook his head, plugging Blues out. "Let's go back into the Labyrinth." It had been getting very challenging lately, and perhaps he would find the chips he needed there.

"The Labyrinth is becoming more challenging." Blues noted. "I may be wrong, but it feels like there is a pattern to it."

"Yes." Enzan murmured. He'd noticed that as well. It was as if something or someone was carefully testing all of their skills. Last time, the challenges had required a great deal of cunning… and the setting was often changing drastically between levels. At the early settings, it had been almost generic… basically, medieval style dungeon corridors. By now, they had run through a forest, a post-apocalyptic city, even an Arabian palace. But it was certainly more interesting and challenging this way. "Hmm… I think some food first would be best." He had a few restaurants in mind. Infini Net was quite good, especially since the food was just a sideline… but other places were better. He left the trailer, leaving the simulation of Plague frozen in place behind him…

hr

Kenzan gritted his teeth, holding his portable phone slightly away from his ear. Not many things grated on his nerves, but this woman's voice could flay him to the bone. Even when she was happy, the high pitch and strident tone grated on him. When she wasn't happy… like now… the whine made him wish for mercy.

"But Kenny, I NEED your help. I have to go!" She pleaded. She'd been pleading for the past fifteen minutes, and he'd been too polite to hang up. Although that politeness was being stretched to it's utter limits.

"I feel sorry for you, Rose. That's a tough break." Xoom said with enough indifference to let her know he didn't in the least mean it. "And don't call me that. It's Kenzan or Xoom, but not Kenny. He's a character on Southpark." That had been part of the reason he'd adopted Xoom as his name. Too many people found "Kenzan" exotic and preferred to turn it into Kenny, which made him gag.

"But it's my sister's wedding! Please, Ken- Xoom, please take my shift?" She wheedled. "You're not doing anything, really. Please?" Kenzan's eyes narrowed, his temper smoldering.  
  
"Not doing anything? Are you forgetting that I'm in an individual round tomorrow, right in the middle of that shift? I don't think so, Rose. Find someone else."

"But there is no one else! They're all busy!" _More likely, _Kenzan brooded, _they don't want to give up any free time for you. Or you haven't tried anyone else yet and want to guilt trip me._ He'd always taken her shifts in the past, for the money, and she was obviously failing to grasp that he wasn't going to do it this time. "And that's just that silly Netbattling competition. This is family!"  
  
"Silly?" That more amused him than angered him. She had no idea what she was talking about. "That 'silly' competition has a prize of a half a million for the winner. Not to mention a quarter each for second and third! And possibly commercial deals, and other crap, too. Are you out of your mind?"

"Oh… well, you don't really have a chance at that, do you?" She said inanely, and Xoom gritted his teeth, closing his eyes.

"I'm the champion of the USA. I have an excellent chance, provided I _show up_ for my part of the competition. So I'm not taking your shift. Deal with it, Rose." Kenzan finally hung up on her, taking immense pleasure in hearing the dial tone. A voice laughed from behind him, and he jumped slightly, startled.

"Finally got rid of her?" Xoom relaxed, turning around. It was one of the pizza chefs, grinning and holding two boxes. "Good timing. It's the same old thing, up to the University. Hop to." Xoom grinned back, as he pushed a bit of his white hair underneath his red cap, embossed with the cute little logo of Luigi's pizza parlor and sushi bar. It was a somewhat sickening, but oddly popular combination among the University students.

Kenzan carefully hoisted the boxes, smiling, as he walked over to his car. It was time to get down to work. 


End file.
